Question about RAW and photoshop

[littlefish]

I am very very new to shooting in RAW and have a quick question which I feel might be very simple but I cannot figure out:
After I open the file in Photoshop and make my adjustments, I click on "open image" and then do any other adjustments I might want to make before saving the picture as a Jpeg. Now if I were to go back to the original RAW file and open it again in Photoshop, it opens as the already processed file. How can I get it to keep the original RAW file intact so that the only altered image would be after the final save in Photoshop? I'm sure its something I've overlooked but I can't seem to get it right.
Thanks for you help,
Mike

[zona5101]

I am not sure why you open the file ,do adjustments then click on open image. Open the raw file, do all your adjustments, flatten and save as a .jpg. Along the way you can save your work in progress as a .psd. But when you're done your original raw will be unchanged.

[Samanax]

Originally Posted by littlefish

I am very very new to shooting in RAW and have a quick question which I feel might be very simple but I cannot figure out:
After I open the file in Photoshop and make my adjustments, I click on "open image" and then do any other adjustments I might want to make before saving the picture as a Jpeg. I click on "open image" and then do any other adjustments I might want to make before saving the picture as a Jpeg. Now if I were to go back to the original RAW file and open it again in Photoshop, it opens as the already processed file. How can I get it to keep the original RAW file intact so that the only altered image would be after the final save in Photoshop? I'm sure its something I've overlooked but I can't seem to get it right.

The original RAW file actually is still intact and hasn't been processed or altered at all. The RAW file isn't really an image file, it's a data file that tells the RAW converter how to construct the image with all the information the camera sensor captured. During the course of doing the initial edits in ACR, ACR makes notes of the adjustments you're making and logs them in a "sidecar" file that is associated with the original RAW file. The next time you open the RAW file, ACR reads the sidecar file and applies the previous edits to the image you just opened. You can revert the image to the original state from within ACR through the basic edits options dialog or you can just delete the sidecar file before you open the RAW file.

[littlefish]

Thanks a lot guys. That answered my question perfectly.